other Reviving the tii after five years hibernation.

[JohnH]

I parked my car up at the end of 2009 and just forgot about it. Every year something else came along and the tii got pushed to the back of the queue. Well its time has finally come!

 

After freeing up the brakes, see this topic http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/163318-rear-brake-adjuster-fit/ I rolled it outside and got stuck in.

 

Attempts to start her got nowhere. In the past, cold starting, even after the winter layup had never been a problem. Turn the key, keeping foot far away from the peddle and after two or three seconds it would fire right up and settle into a fast idle, but not this time. Not a cough, not a kick, nothing. I could hear the fuel pump running but that was it.

 

First of I checked out the ignition. This car is fitted with a Lumenition after market system. The points are replaced by an optical trigger and spark management is via a small control module.

 

 

The documentation with this system comes with a troubleshooting guide, which I diligently worked through. Everything checked out. There were no problems there. I had a spark, though in the sunlight it looked a bit weak.

 

I turned my attention to the fuel system. There is an excellent guide in the handbook, showing where all the fuel filters are;

 

 

 

 

One forgets how good Drivers Handbooks, provided by BMW are from this era.

 

I worked my way though the various filters. Nothing to report. Apart from a very slight blackening, they all looked good to me.  

 

The Pressure Maintenance Valve looked good. You would swear blind that it was new inside. The only problem was the o-ring failed when I refitted it. A quick call to Jaymic and a new one turned up special delivery the next day. Impressive service.

 

I would also like to thank Jim Gerock. Every time I Googled or searched the forum it was Jim's photos and posts that came to the rescue. They are a great resource. Thank you Jim.  

 

Through out my testing, the plugs remained dry. Fuel just didn't seem to be getting though. Maybe pump pressure was low. I hooked a gauge into the cold start line. 1.4 bar. That cant be right. Well the old pump did sound a bit noisy, nothing excessive, but it was clearly audible from outside the car. Keith Kreeger to the rescue. http://www.my2002tii.com/tii-fuel-pump_how-to.htm As luck would have it I had a few Known Good E28 pumps lying about. I have to say, that removing and refitting that pump is a really crap job. I dont intend, ever doing that again. Yes I know its only three 10mm nuts and a couple of fuel clips and detaching the wiring, but for me at least, its excessively fiddly. Lying on your back with your face and chest sqashed by fuel tank and trailing arm and every tool you need just out of reach. Thats not a fun job. Never again!

 

Heres the old pump on the bench;

 

 

You can see the inlet filter. Dirty but not desparate, but whats that other stuff by the outlet

 

 

 

It was wedged sideways in the outlet. It kind of looks like a spring.

 

I knocked up a new pump loom. I had a few E28 looms lying around and and harvested the wires and rubber caps that fit over the pump terminals;

 

 

The important thing to note, and that Keeth's post doesnt make clear, is that the larger terminal is the Ground

 

 

 

You need to be aware of this when you are wresting with the wiring under the car. In retrospect I should wired it up before fitting the pump.

 

Anyway, here it is snugly in place, and note that the fuel hose does miss the CV joint;

 

 

 

With the pump in place a quick pressure test now shows;

 

 

1.8 bar. Thats a bit better. Not 2 bar, but probably okay Maybe the PMV springs a bit weak? How would you test one?

 

 

I'll leave that for another day.

 

Well, she still wont start. Damn it. What to do. I got to reading the handbook and the various other guides and they all say to crank it for up to 30 seconds if need be. That just doesnt seem right to me. The cold start injector seemed to be squirting, but I'm not sure how much. Maybe the injectors are plugged up. Bone dry. I dont know and I'm fed up with this car. Anyway, one final test before I ignite the car. Remove number one plug, still dry, detach coil positive wire so no sparks, and I just turn the key. I want to see if I can smell any fuel getting into #1 cylinder. Five seconds, nothing, ten seconds, nothing, 15 seconds, what was that, a cough, that cant be, no spark, so I put it all back together, turn the key and fires up. WTF, yeehaw cowboy etc. She's coming back to life, I love this car. Lifes good!!!!!

 

Shes still not 100%. Cold starting is difficult, I need more investigating there, but she's running and is off for her Ministry of Transport (MOT) test this afternoon. This is the biggie. Its a health and safety test, to a very high standard. If she passes and I dont see that she shouldnt, then I'm back on the open road. The world will be my oyster.

 

Wish me and her luck.     

Edited April 27, 2015 by JohnH

[M3M3]

Good write up.

Did you dump the old gas and put fresh gas in?

Did you put any preservative in the gas when you stored it? If not, the old stuff probably turned to varnish and ha has everything clogged up.

[JohnH]

Good point Marshall.

 

The fuel system was remarkably clear, with no sign of varnish and was stored with its usual dose of Castrol Valvemaster Plus, which imparts a reddish tinge to the fuel. The tank was replaced fifteen years ago and is still bright and shiney inside. The only signs on the filters was a very slight black residue, which I would guess came from the tank, not the fuel.

 

Once I got it started it ran but was spitting back and fluffing, so I drained the tank dry of 40 liters petrol and refilled it with 15 liters of 99 RON. Its running better now, but cold starting is still very long winded. Hot starting is fine. In the past it was always the other way around, so I think that this confirms that it is a cold start injector/k-fish cold start regulator problem. 

[tzei]

Back in a day when i had Tii engined cars i by passed whole cold start relay unit and wired c/s injector to be operated via push button in cabin. Some morse coding and off we went each time.

[wegweiser]

I carry an E28 fuel pump and a pre-made "adapter harness" I soldered, for this emergency repair on road trips. The harness plugs in to the existing tii harness without any permanent modification. I also use a "reducer" to reconcile the larger supply hose from the tank, to the smaller 8mm inlet of the E28 pump...because I know this would be a miserable roadside fix, under even ideal conditions, I figured I'd pre-emptively make it a tad easier. 

 

Well done. 

[LimeySteve]

Bloody MOT's i remember them well, shudders!!!!

[JohnH]

Back in a day when i had Tii engined cars i by passed whole cold start relay unit and wired c/s injector to be operated via push button in cabin. Some morse coding and off we went each time.

 

I had originally, 18 years ago, rigged up a cold start override "choke" knob. Well actually it was an MGB GT rear heated screen knob adapted for the purpose and it worked really well but I believe my problem now, is that the cold start injector isn't functioning. Maybe I should rewire it so that it always woks when I pull the knob, so to speak.

 

I carry an E28 fuel pump and a pre-made "adapter harness" I soldered, for this emergency repair on road trips. The harness plugs in to the existing tii harness without any permanent modification. I also use a "reducer" to reconcile the larger supply hose from the tank, to the smaller 8mm inlet of the E28 pump...because I know this would be a miserable roadside fix, under even ideal conditions, I figured I'd pre-emptively make it a tad easier. 

 

Well done. 

 

The interesting thing is that you were ahead of the game!!! I now see that BMW via realoem list the E28 pump as the recommended tii replacement. I've fired up my Chinese factories to produce an "official" refit kit. Time will tell how it goes.

 

Bloody MOT's i remember them well, shudders!!!!

 

Well Steve you will be mortified (not) to hear that I didnt make it to the testing garage.

 

You will know that here in the UK, that the only chance that you get to drive your laid up vehicle on the road (legally) is on the trip to the MOT. You book it in, give them the regno (registration number aka licence plate) and you're good to go. So as you know, you leave a bit early and take a more circuitous route to test things out.

 

It didnt go well. It did at first, but I was hoping beyond hope that the front brakes would free up a bit with repeated use. It didnt happen, they jammed on, overheated, boiled the fluid and the pedel went to the floor. I can still feel the heat radiating from them, hours later!.

 

Well moving on, the good news is that my newly overhauled hand brake (aka e-brake, parking brake) works a treat. Half a G at least. A well adjusted '02 hand brake is a thing to behold!

 

I'm starting to really hate this car.

[jgerock]

John - thanks for the write up and comments.  Much appreciated.   I'm still trying to figure out that "coil" located next to your old pump.  I believe there is a check valve on the outlet of the original pump - mine looks more like a thicker coil spring than your thin wire.

 

Regarding your cold start valve, have you removed the air cleaner housing and rubber boot to look into the throttle body while a helper cranks the engine?  Remember there is a tiny screen on the inlet to that cold start solenoid valve and the wires are somewhat fragile.

 

Jim

[JohnH]

Jim, you've jogged my memory, I now remember reading one of your posts on the secret cold start injector filter. I will get onto it soon.

 

For now I have rather more pressing matters, sorting out these brakes.

 

So once again I'm grovelling about on the ground, all tools in action;

 

 

When you compare the 02 brake system to a those employed ten years later by BMW you realise that they were groping about in the dark. British cars of this era have, what are by and large modern brake systems. Maybe BMW were trying to avoid paying royalties, they were cash strapped at this time.

 

Anyway, with the caliper off the car the big strip down can commence. I should say that one of the joys of stripping calipers is that you can do it standing up! My old back really enjoys this.

 

The first task is to remove the pistons and the only tool to do this is Big Bertha, my trusty grease gun.

 

 

Its a standard European grease gun that fortunately uses M10x1 fittings, which means that a standard flexible extension an be hooked straight up to the caliper. You can use an old flex brake hose at a pinch, but they eventually heal up when contaminated with grease.

 

The trick is to pump away and see which of the opposing pair of pistons starts to move. Let it come out 1/4" or so and then stop any further movement with a G-clamp. This will let 6000psi of grease gun action work on the stuck piston. It will move magically out of its cylinder and eventually plop out. No drama, no noise, no effort, no airlines, just gentle grease gun action. As smooth as, and as slippery as silk. Yes its messy, you need gloves and plenty of workshop paper, but where would the fun be, without a bit of goop.

 

How to get the other piston out? Well you need to grip your caliper in a vice,

 

 

 

stuck piston on the bottom, so you can see it easily, without stooping and bending, then you just walk the piston out, by tapping the exposed piston flange on each side using a strike though screwdriver and a 1/2lb ball and peen hammer. You dont really want it wet and greasy. As you tap the piston, it rocks, initially, minutely, but 20-30 taps on either side, and its moved out of the cylinder a mil or two. The further out it comes the more it can rock, and then its out. No grunting, no stillsons, no monkey wrenches, no channel locks, no effort at all really. its that simple. I'll take some pictures on the other caliper to illustrate.

 

I've got ATE caliper rebuild kits on the way. They include the internal o-rings, but I will wait until they arrive before cracking the caliper, just in case they dont.  

[JohnH]

I've had the opportunity to inspect the first set of brake pistons. These were rebuilt calipers (Budweg) and fitted fifteen or so years ago. They all look good to me. This is the worst of them;

 

 

You can just about see a line running around the circumference of the piston mid way down. That should buff out okay, I hope!. 

 

The brakes were definitely locking on. Looking at the caliper, even in it current greasy state, you can see that the piston bore between the seal and the rim is badly rusted.

 

 

Its probably stopping the piston seal relaxing to allow the piston to back off when releasing the brake peddle. It had certainly trapped the piston when I was extracting it. 

 

 

['76mintgrün'02]

Thank you for the write up.  I will be doing this soon as well.  

 

Where did you purchase the ATE rebuild kits?

[JohnH]

Thank you for the write up.  I will be doing this soon as well.  

 

Where did you purchase the ATE rebuild kits?

 

Thank you for reading Minty. My pleasure to show a few pics and have a chat.

 

I'm based in the UK so on this occaision bought the kits from http://www.biggred.co.uk/catalogue.php but I see that BMW via realoem http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=2582&mospid=47131&btnr=34_0791&hg=34&fg=05 list an ATE rebuild kit 

05 Repair set brake caliper ATE 1     34111158692 $46.19

 

It might be worth asking your local dealer for more details.

 

Okay a pic showing a strike through screwdriver walking a piston out of a caliper;

 

 

 

These two pistons were the ones that blinked first under the gaze of Big Bertha the grease gun, so I pumped them out this far and G-clamped them in place and fully extracted the opposing pistons.

 

Looking at these pistons, you can see that they seem to be badly rusted. Every time I tapped them a little puff of rust flew up and after a couple of minuets they had risen about 1/32" and just sat there so I grabbed them with some waterpump pliers and they lifted right out. The tapping breaks the rust up and loosens the calipers grip on the piston.  

 

I was initially a bit concerned with the apperance the pistons and outer seals on this caliper. The pistons looked like they had been cooked and the thing smelled rather nasty;

 

 

Having extracted the pistons and given them a quick wipe down with an oily rag they look very good. Not a spot of rust on them anywhere. Are these stainless steel perhaps. They look a bit dark to me;

 

 

The darker marks appear to be melted brake seal. A quick brush over with a soft and fine brass brush;

 

 

Nothing wrong with these.

 

Still awaiting the overhaul kits. More then.

[PaulTWinterton]

I want those rubber caps!  How would I source them?

 

Great work by the way.

Edited April 30, 2015 by PaulTWinterton

[Conserv]

I want those rubber caps!  How would I source them?

RubberCaps.jpg...

Maybe JohnH has a specific answer, but when I see these rubber boots, I think of '50s Mercedes I used to own. Since MB also has a pretty strong classic parts tradition, I wonder if we could find them through MB sources?

Regards,

Steve

[John_in_VA]

I want those rubber caps!  How would I source them?

In post #1, OP stated:

I had a few E28 looms lying around and and harvested the wires and rubber caps that fit over the pump terminals.